Chevrolet's fastest, most powerful Corvette - the high performance Z06 - was revealed at the 2014 Detroit motor show with an elaborate vehicle convoy beamed live online and into the motor show halls for half an hour prior to its arrival on the show stand.

With a police escort, two Corvette pace cars and 30 regular Corvette Stingrays behind it, a still-disguised Corvette Z06 was towed by a Chevrolet truck along the main freeway into Detroit's CBD.

Its progress was followed by a helicopter and cars lined with cameras in an effort to drum up excitement for the Corvette hero car that was finally revealed an hour after Toyota's show stopper, the radical FT-1 concept.

However, the bright yellow car that arrived on stage was not the car that got towed on the drive. It was instead a gleaming show car draped in a chequered car cover.

The race-bred version of the latest-generation American icon is powered by a 426kW/860Nm supercharged 6.2-litre V8 - the same engine featured in the latest HSV GTS - that should see it accelerate from 0-100kmh in around 3.0sec and towards a top speed in excess of 300kmh.

Apart from the hugely-powerful V8 engine, the Z06 also features a wider body, larger tyres and a carbon fibre body kit that offers additional downforce.

While it is available with a beefed-up version of the seven-speed manual transmission already available in the regular Corvette Stingray, the Z06 also introduces a new eight-speed automatic gearbox with paddle shifters that could end up in the final update to the VF Commodore before Holden closes down its manufacturing operations in 2017.

The Corvette Z06 reveal was the latest in years or theatrical reveals for motor show stars at the Detroit motor show, or North America International Auto Show, as it is officially known.

In years gone by cars have smashed through the Cobo Centre hall's windows, driven up walls and been driven on stage by executives through fireworks and light shows worthy of a New Year's Eve party.